Located three-and-a-half hours north of Perth is the tiny Western Australian town of Three Springs. It may be a small town, but it is big on hospitality and over the long weekend of September 23 to 25, the Three Springs Sporting Clays was the venue for the SSAA WA Sporting Clays State Titles and SSAA National Sporting Clays Championships.

The shooters and officials started arriving on Thursday and quickly settled into the camp grounds and round the fireplace at the club. The weather was perfect and a total of 42 competitors came from throughout WA, NSW and Tasmania for the event. Competition began on Friday with two rounds of 5-Stand, followed by the SSAA WA Sporting Clays State Titles on Saturday, with the SSAA National Sporting Clays Championships over Saturday and Sunday.

Each day, shooters were treated to 100 targets over four layouts. The range setters did an excellent job creating a variety of targets throughout the bush scrub, over the lake and from the towers. Targets were easy to see with something for all levels of ability, with just enough slippery ones to keep everyone on their toes. The ranges ran faultlessly all weekend.

Results for the weekend were:

Friday: 5-Stand

High Gun: Paul McGowan 46/50

Saturday: SSAA WA Sporting State Titles

High Gun & SSAA WA Sporting Clays State Champion: Darren Macartney 97/100

1st AA Grade: Paul McGowan 91/100

1st A Grade: Harvey Turner 76/100

1st B Grade: Kevin Dodd 65/100

1st C Grade: Glenn Spencer 54/100

1st Ladies: Tracey Grayer 75/100

1st Veterans: David Knight 85/100

1st Juniors: Danon Randazzo 83/100

Saturday/Sunday: SSAA National Sporting Clays Championships

High Gun & SSAA National Sporting Clays Champion: Darren Macartney 185/200

1st AA Grade: Paul McGowan 184/200

1st A Grade: Harvey Turner 155/200

1st B Grade: Bill Truscott 139/200

1st C Grade: Glenn Spencer 107/200

1st Ladies: Tracey Grayer 155/200

1st Veterans: David Knight 170/200

1st Juniors: Danon Randazzo 167/200

Overall 3-day High Gun winner: Paul McGowan 230/250

The Sporting Clays State Team Shield was convincingly won by the WA Team of Paul McGowan, Gary Marsh, Peter Grayer, Rys Howard, Clayton Dennis and David Knight (1059), over NSW (957). Well done, everyone. There were also three possible 25s shot over the weekend. These went to Paul McGowan, Clayton Dennis and Darren Macartney.

The team in the kitchen did a magnificent job feeding the troops from Thursday night until Sunday night – breakfasts, lunches, dinners and desserts. However, the highlight was the Saturday night feast of WA lobster and sheep on the spit and more desserts. I think we all gained about 5kg over the weekend but it was well worth it.

The event was a great success, made possible by the small team of dedicated workers at Three Spring Sporting Clays, plus the sponsorship from SSAA National, SSAA WA State Office, Winchester Australia, Metso Australia, Batavia Coast Firearms, Geraldton Fuel, along with Warren Brown and Merv Holben.

I cannot speak highly enough of this small regional club and the way they hosted this State and National event. Friendly hospitality, great clubhouse and facilities, awesome targets and top notch food. Congratulations and well done to all involved.

As part of my responsibilities as National Shotgun Discipline Vice Chairman, and acting on behalf of John Norris (Shotgun National Discipline Chairman), I undertook the following duties: Discussions and checking of SSAA Memberships for competitors; ensuring an Appeals panel was arranged; checking ranges and targets for safety and competitiveness; briefing competitors before the start of competition (rules etc); answering any queries regarding rules for the duration of the competition; and congratulating the host club on behalf of SSAA National.

by SSAA Shotgun National Discipline Vice Chairman Darren Macartney